New Delhi: The 22nd summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is scheduled to be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan from September 15-16, 2022. This will be the first summit after the last two virtual summits in which the leaders of the member countries will directly participate. This time the SCO summit is important. Because of Russia’s attack on Ukraine and China-Taiwan tensions, the eyes of the whole world including the US will be on the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Despite this, there will also be a big opportunity for India to increase its strategic reach in the countries of Central Asia.
However, Russia’s historic ties and China’s BRI initiative have already substantially reduced the scope for a third to expand its reach in Central Asia. However, despite all the friendship, Russian President Putin would never want Russia to be considered a ‘junior partner of China in the region. The main reason for Beijing’s interest in this area is related to energy supply. China has invested billions of dollars in oil and gas projects in Central Asia, especially in Uzbekistan. On the other hand, China also does not want to reveal that it is doing so to reduce its energy dependence on Russia. In such a situation, if Russia had more financial resources, it would have been able to prevent China’s dominance in foreign trade in Central Asia.
Due to Russia-China, there is less scope for third in the area
Russia’s economy is expected to lag behind China’s economy in the coming times. Whereas Russia has more power in the military field. Therefore, the countries of Central Asia will not try to join the defense alliance with China. For now, it will be interesting to see how China-Russia relations flourish in Central Asia. Will they continue to be allies or become competitors in the near future? Only time will tell. In any case, the Sino-Russian axis could hinder India’s way of expanding its influence in the Eurasian region.
America’s concern
SCO is a huge organization. It is believed that due to China-Russia joining Iran together, the SCO can be called an anti-West organization. Due to this, America’s concern is justified. Central Asia is an important geopolitical region for India’s aspirations to become a major economic hub. If India connects economically with other parts of Asia then it can serve to achieve India’s goals. This will expand India’s sphere of influence in the Central Asian markets and may reduce the dependence of energy resources on Russia in particular.
SCO meeting a springboard for India
India can take advantage of the opportunity to use the SCO as a springboard or gateway to enhance and strengthen its interests in the Central Asian region. It will be even better when India assumes the presidency of SCO next year. However, the increasing influence of China in Central Asia is a big bottleneck in this matter. To control China, India will have to adopt more assertive and multi-faceted diplomacy.
